Family Bonding
by cantthinkofagoodone
Summary: Colress is dreading stopping by, but he knows he really should see his sister's family while he's in Kalos. Set around 6-7 years before the XY anime. Written in response to an inbox prompt on tumblr, "Send me two characters and write a short story about their relationship." I already had a huge backstory for Colress being Clemont's uncle and this is around the start of it.


Colress hadn't been to the Kalos region in quite a few years. In fact, he had a niece that he was expecting to meet for the first time who was already what was it? A year old? Two years? As though it would make very much of a difference as far as he was concerned. He wasn't exactly comfortable around children, never had been. Hopefully this visit wouldn't require too much interaction with them.

He arrived at the door of the quaint little house and rang the bell, smoothing a wrinkle from his pants as he waited with one hand, a large bag of Unovan treats in the other, not quite sure what to expect but reusing to admit that he might be just a _teensy_ bit nervous. The door opened, and before he could even say so much as a hello he was scooped up off his feet in a bone crushing hug.

"WELL I'LL BE! IF IT ISNT COLRESS! HAHA! So good to see you!" The unmistakable booming voice of his brother-in-law made Colress groan inwardly.  
"Hello Meyer. Good to see you as well," he managed, adjusting his glasses once he had been released from the hug.  
"Well, don't just stand there, come on in!" he practically pushed him into the house.  
"Sooo! How've you been? What brings you to our little corner of Lumiose? Heck, what brings you to _Kalos_?"  
"I am quite, quite well, I suppose. I thought I might come by on my way to the Geosenge Monoli–"  
"Dad, was that someone at the door?" A small voice came from the hall.  
"Clemmers! Come see who's here!"

The little blond boy came warily inside, peering up at Colress from behind enormous round glasses. "Hello there, Clemont. Do you remember me?" Colress awkwardly crouched down a bit to speak to him. Clemont examined Colress as if it mignt help him remember, then looked at his father.  
"Don't you remember your Uncle Colress?" Clemont just shook his head 'no' directly at Meyer, who came and put an imposing arm around his son. "He's a little shy, aren't you son. Takes after that little sister of yours, eh Colress?" "Er, right."  
"And speaking of little sisters, is your sister awake from her nap?" "Not yet."  
"Well, you'll get to meet her soon enough," he said to Colress, grinning. "In the meantime….What's in that bag of yours? Did you bring me a souvenir from good ol'Unova?" Colress wordlessly handed him a pack of candies from the bag. "Aw, you remembered!"  
"Yes, yes. And this is for you." Colress took a larger box out and handed it to Clemont, who shyly murmered a "thank you."  
"Go on, son, open it up!"

Clemont carefully unwrapped the package, revealing a small microscope. "Woooooow. This is for me?" Clemont finally looked up at his uncle, beaming. Colress felt a glimmer of satisfaction and maybe a bit of nostalgia when he saw the child's face light up like that. He had been just a touch older than Clemont when he'd gotten _his_ very first microscope. Honestly, he hadn't really expected any kind of reaction, so this was a pleasant surprise. "Indeed." He replied simply.

Meyer was about to corner Colress in another hug when a squeal erupted from the hall. "Sounds like your sister's awake." Meyer went and retrieved his teary-eyed daughter from her bedroom. "Bonners, you silly girl, you know you're not supposed to do that. Here," He kissed a spot on her knee, apparently the cause of her tears, though there wasn't any visible injury. "Now the magic words. _Pain, pain, go away!_ " Meyer turned to Colress, "She's been climbing out of her crib lately," he explained. "It's time we got you a big girl bed, huh?" He grinned at her and she smiled back, making a noise that resembled language. Turning to Colress, he came uncomfortably close with the little girl.  
"Bonnie, I'd like you to meet your Uncle Colress! Say hi!" The toddler reached out and threw both chubby little arms around Colress' neck, squealing so loudly he thought his glasses might shatter. Before he knew it, Colress somehow ended up holding her.  
"Hello…. Bonnie." He hesitantly patted her on the head.  
"She likes you!" Funny, Colress couldn't tell any difference between that squeal and the pained squeal from before. She squealed again as he thought this, grabbing at his blue whooshie tuft of hair, then at his glasses.  
"Wuv yu!" She continued the onslaught.

Meyer took her back after what seemed like an eternity, and Colress offered her his gift. It was a puzzle toy, and Bonnie seemed more interested in putting the large pieces in her mouth than solving it once Meyer put her on the floor with it. Clemont came over and attempted to help her.

"So, how long you going to be staying with us!" Meyer asked Colress as he recomposed himself, still wiping the sticky smudges off his glasses.  
"Ahem, that is not necessary, I was planning to stay at a hotel in town before I leave tomorrow–"  
"I won't hear another word of it! You're staying with us!"  
"I do not mean to impose-" Colress was losing the battle.  
"Nonsense! You're staying the night here and that's final!"  
" _(Sigh)_ Very well. That is…. very kind of you," Colress squeaked out from Meyer's vicegrip around his neck. "I will just go ahead and get settled in the guest room, then." "HAHAH! Did you forget? Bonnie lives there now! Clemont, how would you like to take your Uncle Colress to your room? You two are having a _**sl**_ _ **umber party**_!"

* * *

Later that night, more exhausted than he thought possible after a simple day of interacting with the family, he settled in with his nephew. He looked around the room, smiling ever so slightly as he thought of how much the dangling planetary models and bucket of plastic bricks reminded him of his own childhood. He helped Clemont unpack his new present (not that he needed much help, surprisingly) and watched as Clemont eagerly sat at his little desk, looking through the microscope at everything he could think of to put between the slides.

Colress was, admittedly, impressed with the boy's intelligence and curiosity. He showed him how to examine his own cells from a swab inside his cheek, even offering his own sample for comparison. Even after Meyer had bid them good night, and even after they ran out of slides, Colress continued introducing him to many ideas that the boy absorbed, completely fascinated with the world of science.  
"I shall show you how to grow your own crystals when I return from Geosenge Town, would you like that?"  
"Would I! Can you really do that?"  
"Ah, indeed, that _is_ the question you should be asking. Whenever you find a problem or a question about the world that you cannot find the answer to, science is the key. Science is the way of the future, leading the way to a new world!" He was unintentionally clenching a fist and speaking up to the ceiling. "…. _I_ _ii_ _n_ cidentally, the answer is yes, you can really do that. I will show you how."  
"Wooooow."

Glasses off, lights out. Clemont snored lightly, dreaming of experiments no doubt. Colress stayed awake a bit longer, thinking to himself that it would be a shame for him to pass through again without visiting his nephew if he just so happened to attend the Lumiose Science Symposium afterall –Meyer's snoring was now louder than a rampaging Mankey–even if it meant he had to deal with the rest of the family.


End file.
